Why this meme is racist

The Williamson County Republican Party recently shared this image in an email blast.(Photo11: Submitted)

Instead of quoting things the congresswoman actually said, the meme had word bubbles over her and an interviewer.

Interviewer: "What is your opinion on Roe v. Wade?"

Ocasio-Cortez: "Thats (sic) the only two ways Mexicans can cross the river."

Oh, I guess she must have heard "row" v. "wade" as in rowing and wading across the Rio Grande. Ba dum tss (that sound you hear after an unfunny joke).

Can you see what the problem is?

Mexicans — and Central Americans — who make the dangerous journey to the U.S. border and attempt to cross it do so because they are poor, struggling, jobless and yearning for opportunity for them and their families in this great nation, the United States of America.

The reason it is racist is that it demeans a specific group because of its culture and ethnicity.

Let's face it, take action and move on

After The Tennessean story was published Wednesday, I tweeted the link out with this message:

"Hate speech is protected by the First Amendment, but it's still wrong. Tennessee House members today passed a resolution condemning racism. They should honor that vote by publicly condemning this racist meme."

Yes, that very morning state House members, by a voice vote, affirmed they would "join with Tennesseans throughout this great state to continue the fight against racism of all types as we all work to bring Dr. (Martin Luther) King's dream to fruition by making Tennessee a place where equality, justice, freedom, and peace continue to grow and flourish."

Hate speech is protected by the First Amendment, but it's still wrong. Tennessee House members today passed a resolution condemning racism. They should honor that vote by publicly condemning this racist meme. re: @AOChttps://t.co/XU13n0NaOA via @ElainaSauber@Tennessean

As you might imagine, I received a range of reactions from that tweet, among them some "whatabout-ism" concerning the confrontation in Washington, D.C., that involved Catholic school boys in "Make America Great Again" hats, a Native American elder playing a drum and a group calling itself the Black Hebrew Israelites, which taunted the youths.

That's fine and whatever racist words were said should be condemned, but let this not distract us from what happened in our backyard.

With great power comes great responsibility

Williamson County, the most affluent county in Tennessee, boasting the best schools in the state, is the home to Gov. Bill Lee, one of our U.S. senators Marsha Blackburn, the state Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson and the state Speaker of the House Glen Casada.

Many residents are people with enormous power, and as the axiom goes: "With great power comes great responsibility."

Among those responsibilities: Empathy.

We can learn from this event. We can learn to be empathetic to those who don't share our privilege.

We can learn to acknowledge a wrong, take responsibility for it, apologize and ask for forgiveness.

David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY NETWORK Tennessee and an editorial board member of The Tennessean. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or tweet to him at @davidplazas.

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